Down With a Fever
by Cutesy Lolita Elizabeth
Summary: Ciel wakes up one morning with terrible stomach cramps and a fever. What all happens when Elizabeth hears about this and comes to help? [Rated T because of the fifth chapter.]
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So I thought another _Kuroshitsuji_ fanfic would be fun, I guess. XD I'm kind of scared, honestly, since my faith in my fanfiction-writing abilities is extremely low. But I'm giving it a shot, as I need to get my mind off the stress of another anime I started recently. So I guess the way I'm relieving the stress and calming myself down is writing some cute Ciel/Elizabeth (ahahaha, I feel kinda weird typing her name, since my name is Elizabeth. XD I'm stupid) thingy. At least I hope it's cute. I also hope it's good.**

**Oh, also, quick warning, I think Sebastian might be really OOC. Heh...sorry...but at least he won't play _too_ much of a part in this. At least, if it goes exactly how I've planned it out. Which I doubt it will.**

**Anyway~ Enjoy~**

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"Young Master, it's time to wake up."

Ciel groaned as he was woken up by Sebastian's voice and a bright ray of light flooding into the room. He yawned and stretched, then opened his eyes. He reluctantly sat up, only to be hit with a sudden cramp in his lower abdomen. He immediately clutched where his stomach cramped up, wincing a bit from the pain.

"Are you all right, Young Master?" Sebastian questioned.

Keeping his teeth clenched against the sudden and unexpected pain, Ciel replied in the most steady tone he was able to. "Yes, just fine."

Sebastian pulled off one of his gloves and pressed the bare palm of his hand gently against Ciel's forehead for a couple moments. He then sighed, most likely because this meant he would have to take care of his sick master. As if taking care of Ciel on a normal day wasn't enough... "It appears you have a fever. I advise you rest and try to get more sleep."

Ciel, of course, was stubborn and argued against what his butler told him. "I'm perfectly fine. I have a lot of paperwork to do, and I have a meeting scheduled. There's no time for me to remain idle."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of both those things if you need to recuperate. Kill the source of the problem as soon as you find it unless you want it to worsen, as goes something I've heard in the past."

Still refusing to skip even a single day of working, the boy stood up, only to have a sharp pain cause him to collapse back onto his bed. Had he not been in the pain he was, he would have growled and snapped something about how he, despite his inability to remain standing, was perfectly capable of precisely and efficiently completing his work. However, he somehow felt it would be best to just allow Sebastian to cover for him. "All right..."

"I'll leave your tea next to your bed. I'll be doing my chores if need me."

Ciel considered drinking at least a small sip of his tea, but decided that it wasn't worth sitting up at the time. He crawled under his blankets, covered his head, and tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

The young earl woke up to the sound of his door being slammed shut.

"Perhaps you should have been a bit more careful. If he's asleep, you shouldn't wake him up."

"I didn't mean to, sorry. As much as I want to talk to him, he's ill, so I wouldn't want to disturb him if he's taking a nap."

_Sebastian and Elizabeth,_ Ciel thought. He kicked his covers all the way off, as he was burning up under them.

The bed dipped near the foot of it, and he assumed Elizabeth sat down on it. "I'll make sure to keep quiet. I'm sure you have chores to do, and I wouldn't want to keep you here." Her voice was significantly quieter now.

"Yes, I should be getting back to my daily tasks. Just call if you need anything." The door opened. "And one more thing - please try not to wake the Young Master."'

"I'll make sure not to!"

And then Ciel heard the door shut.

"It's a bit too late for that," he mumbled.

"Ciel!" Elizabeth squealed, her voice hitting a higher pitch than usual, causing Ciel to flinch slightly. It grated against his ears in a way that threatened to worsen the almost-painful headache that had developed. The girl hugged her fiance tightly, pulling him into a sitting position and forcing the air from his lungs. "As soon as I heard you weren't feeling well, I had to come right over to check on you!"

"G-get off me...!" Ciel gasped, trying and failing to refill his lungs with air.

Elizabeth immediately let go of him. "Sorry... I couldn't help it, seeing you like this!" Looking over at the teapot and full teacup on the tray next to Ciel's bed, her gaze fell upon the full teacup. "Oh, dear, your teacup is still completely full. Have you had anything at all to drink today?"

The earl shook his head. "No."

His fiancee stood up and put her hands on her hips, attempting to take on an authoritative stance so as to help emphasize her seriousness on the topic. "Nothing at all? How do you expect to get to better if you don't drink a lot of liquids? You can't even stay _healthy_ without drinking plenty of liquids every day!" Once she said this, her stance dropped and she stopped what could have been considered a scolding in a way. After all, Ciel disliked and was a bit intimidated by the idea of a strong, dominant wife. Elizabeth was a bit too scared to let herself hold so much authority in her voice and words for too long, and she could only add so much of a sense of authority to both before she could risk crossing a line even though she was only trying to help. "I'll go get you some more tea, okay? Something warm should help!"

She giggled and twirled in the adorable way of hers, and rushed out the door to get some tea. Ciel was silently more grateful than he felt he probably should have been, though he would never admit to it.

Elizabeth returned about a quarter of an hour later, wheeling in a tray with a teacup and a teapot resting on it. A strong scent of orange and a spice Ciel assumed was cinnamon filled the room. It wasn't a scent he recognized, so he figured it was safe to assume he had never tried it before.

"What kind of tea is that?" Ciel questioned.

Elizabeth held out the teacup to Ciel. "It's orange and spice tea! I think I read somewhere that citrus helps when you're sick!"

The earl took the teacup from his fiancee and tentatively took a sip. It was actually very good, and since he was quite thirsty, he quickly finished it. He held up his cup for Elizabeth to refill it.

She filled the cup with more of the liquid. "You must really like it!"

It wasn't much longer before the whole pot was finished off. Ciel's thirst had subsided, and the headache that was getting worse was beginning to die away.

"I'm glad it was actually any good. I've only ever been told how to make it, but I've never actually brewed tea myself," Elizabeth admitted.

Ciel fell back into a laying position. "It was quite delicious. I-"

He was cut off by a particularly bad cramp. He had been putting up with them the whole time he had been awake, but this one was horrible. He let out a very quiet yelp, clutched the part of his stomach that had cramped up, and curled up into a ball.

"Ciel!" his fiancee exclaimed. "Are you all right?!"

"It's just a cramp," Ciel responded in a strained voice through tightly gritted teeth.

"Oh! I get those a lot. I know exactly how to fix that! I'll be right back!"

She exited the room once again.

Wait... _A lot_. Despite all the pain Ciel was in, he couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for Elizabeth. It was a wonder to him how she could cope with this _a lot_.

Elizabeth came back, holding a large bowl that had a few droplets of water on the sides. She sat down on the bed next to Ciel. "You'll need to lay flat on your back, all right?"

He did as Elizabeth told him to, wincing slightly from how much it hurt. Elizabeth unbuttoned his nightshirt and pulled it open to expose Ciel's stomach and chest. She pulled a cloth out of the bowl, wrung out the excess water it had absorbed, and laid the cloth - which was very warm - on his lower stomach. She then began massaging gentle circles in certain parts of his stomach with her dainty, delicate fingers. It felt pretty nice. Even better, actually, because it was Elizabeth who was taking care of him.

"Does this help at all?" she asked.

"Yes, quite a lot," Ciel responded.

"Good! I've never actually done this before myself, either. But Paula does this to me when my cramps get really bad. But it _can_ get a bit troublesome when I'm attending a ball or something like that."

"How often do you have to put up with that, anyway?"

"Hmm... Well, there's a few days out of each month that I get them. But it's not really much of a big deal, now that it's been about a year since they started."

Ciel didn't really know how to react to something like that. During none of her visits to see him, or his visits to see her, had he ever seen her cringe randomly from a sudden stab of pain. Sure, she had quickly excused herself to use the restroom and left just as quickly as well, but he never really thought anything of it, and she never actually showed any discomfort when she did so.

This same pain Elizabeth suffered through every month without dropping hints that she was, was the same pain that was keeping Ciel in bed.

"I think it's enough about that, though. If you're sick, you need lots of rest, so try to go back to sleep."

Ciel had no problem with doing so. As Elizabeth began humming the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down," Ciel closed his eyes, and sleep soon took hold of him.

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**Author's Note: I feel like I just failed on every level there is, and I deeply apologize for that. However, I'd like all of you lovely readers to review and tell me how much of it I actually _did_ mess up so I can start fixing my errors in the next chapters~ All right? Please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: aaaa~ You guys make me so happy! Every email I got because of a review/follow/favorite brightened up my day. :3 I love you all!**

**-A huge "thank you" goes out to tapion580, Unknownme (a guest), graciekit99, and GreatTheWayIAm for reviewing! :D  
****-Another huge "thank you" goes out to tapion580 and elisamadness for following! :D  
****-And yet another huge "thank you" goes out to tapion580, elisamadness, and Missing50 for favoriting! :D**

**Now here's chapter two~ I hope you like it! :D But I've been listening to "The Darkness Within" for a while on repeat, so it may or may not affect my writing. I think I'll need to apologize if it does. XD**

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Ciel woke up some time later to - go figure - even more pain. Something else severely uncomfortable as well, though he wasn't quite able to put his finger on what precisely it was. He opened his eyes - then quickly remember he wasn't by himself and closed the eye that the contract seal was on - and sat up.

"You're awake." Elizabeth's voice sounded as if she had just woken up as well. "I was going to get you up when I did, just a couple minutes ago, but I thought I should let you wake up on your own. Sorry if you think I should have gotten you up..."

Why on earth was she saying sorry for something like that?

"And you're apologizing why...?" Ciel mumbled.

"Isn't it obvious? You wet the bed, silly."

Ciel could feel his cheeks heat up, and he turned onto his stomach to hide his face in his pillow in hopes that Elizabeth wouldn't notice. Even as a young child, he could hardly remember having any accidents like that. Now here he was, thirteen years old, wetting his bed like a toddler. How pathetic.

"I had Sebastian draw you a bath," Elizabeth continued. "I told him you requested to have one ready before you woke up, and I insisted on taking care of you."

The earl didn't respond. He wanted to thank his fiancee for going through whatever trouble she had for him, but he was also partial to the idea of curling up in a ball under the covers and not moving until she left. Since he didn't quite want to talk to her, - she must be silently calling him out for something so childish, after all, and that idea in itself was terribly humiliating - but she certainly wouldn't leave, either, he just chose an option that was pretty much a median.

"Thanks," he said, though his voice was heavily muffled by the pillow pressed against his face. He pulled the blankets up over his head, then drew his knees up to his chest.

"There's no need to thank me," Elizabeth replied softly. "I did it for you, so I was happy to do it." She pulled the blankets off Ciel entirely. "And could you please stop acting like this...? It's making me feel bad. It's not like you did anything wrong, it was only an accident." She leaned down and kissed the top of Ciel's head.

Ciel wasn't usually one for kisses, even just ones like that. He loved Elizabeth to death, of course, but it just wasn't really a form of affection that he was typically too crazy about. He did, however, quite like that little kiss, though he doubted he would ever admit that out loud.

"I suppose..."

"Good!" Elizabeth grabbed Ciel's arm and pulled him out of his bed. "Then let's get you in the bath!"

Ciel groaned as he was pulled to his feet. He collapsed to the floor as a strong jolt of pain hit him. This was certainly a horrible problem, and he hated it. Elizabeth immediately dropped down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders.

"Here, let me help," Elizabeth offered. "Just lean on me as heavily as you need to. I'll make sure to hold you up."

She put one of Ciel's arms over the back of her neck, holding his hand gently, and used her free arm to help support his body. It took a few minutes, but the two both eventually got the the bathroom.

Elizabeth sat Ciel down on the toilet and carefully removed his clothing, just as Sebastian always did before putting him in the bath. It was, to be honest, a little bit awkward for him. Elizabeth, on the other hand, showed absolutely no hesitation and didn't seem to have any problem whatsoever with it. She didn't find helping him into the tub odd, either. They were to be married, after all, so there was no reason for them to be uncomfortable around each other, whether they were clothed or not.

"I'll go fetch you more tea and a book, all right?" she suggested. "That'll keep you busy while I clean your sheets."

She left the room and came back several minutes later with another tray with a teacup and teapot upon it, and holding a book with the title _Jane Eyre_ printed on the cover. She set everything on the toilet, then set a small towel on the side of the tub for Ciel to dry his hands off on.

"Do you need me to get anything else?"

Ciel shook his head. "No, this is all I need."

"Great! I'll be back once I'm finished with the cleaning. If you need anything at all, just call for me."

With that, she left the room. As a Lady, Elizabeth never was required to do chores - unless, of course, you count getting into a corset, which Ciel most definitely _did_ count. Rather, then, she was never required to do any cleaning, cooking, or anything else such as that. Still, though, she was catering to all of Ciel's needs as if it were her duty to. Had it been anyone else, she would have let the butler or the maid have the responsibility to take care of their master, but since it was her fiance, she was insisting on taking care of the master herself. It was greatly admirable, the things love could make others do.

The earl sat all the way up, dried off his hands, picked up the teacup, and took a sip of the tea. He wasn't thirsty at all, but the tea was delicious. He then picked up the novel and, leaning back against the head of the bathtub, opened it to the fourth chapter. He hadn't finished it, and he hadn't read it in several months. He actually detested it, as Jane put too high of a value on other peoples' opinions, and early into the book, also proved to have, in a sense, a somewhat hypocritical way of thinking. It was horrible, but he didn't have anything else to do, so he decided to continue reading it.

Who-knows-how-long later, Elizabeth returned.

"Okay, I've got everything cleaned, and now Sebastian is hanging all your sheets up to dry," she said. "Are you ready to get out just yet?"

"Not quite yet, no," Ciel replied, closing the book and setting it back on the top of the toilet to get another cup of tea.

Elizabeth then began removing her clothing, though her dress seemed like it a pain to get off, and got into the tub with Ciel after making sure everything was neatly folded. The water was quite warm, which was quite pleasant.

"Your body is so adorable, you know," she said, for once not squealing as she stated something like that, as she pulled Ciel into a hug. "It's so soft and perfect!"

Ciel couldn't help but blush a little at that statement, so he was a bit thankful for the fact that Elizabeth was hugging him from behind. It was, however, very pleasant to be able to have this sort of physical contact. It was comforting to have her so close to him, to have her chest pressed against his back to feel her slow and steady heartbeat, to know that he didn't have to ask for this sort of closeness from her, to know she _enjoyed_ loving on him like this.

"Um...thank you?" he half-asked in reply, adding silently, _I think...?_

The only response he received was a giggle, and a spurt of water in the face when Elizabeth cupped her hands and squeezed them in a way that caused a small jet of water to shoot from them.

"What was that for?"

"Sorry! I didn't mean for it to hit you." She shot another spurt of water with her hands, this time hitting Ciel's chest. "But look! It's a little gush of water! Isn't this cute?"

Cute? Ciel didn't know what about being able to shoot water from your hands could be considered "cute." But her dainty little hands were quite adorable, so he wouldn't technically be lying if he gave the answer she wanted, right?

"I suppose so," he replied.

"Here, let me show you how to do it." She moved so as to be sitting in front of Ciel, and grabbed his hands, positioning them in the same way hers were. "You have to hold your hands like this, or else it won't work. Now squeeze your hands together!"

Ciel did as Elizabeth instructed and squeezed his hands together. Water gushed from them and hit one of Elizabeth's ponytails.

"Careful!" she exclaimed. "I won't look very cute if you get my hair wet! And it won't curl again until it dries!"

"It You won't look cute?" Ciel cocked his head slightly to the side. "I somehow doubt that. Why not show me so I can see?"

"But it's true! I don't want you to see me like that..."

"It's not like I'm going to be taking any pictures, and you're going to be my wife, so there's no harm in showing me."

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment. It was just getting her hair wet, wasn't it? It would just flatten her curls, and it would only last until her hair was dry, so it shouldn't really be as much of a big deal as she was making it out to me. She pulled out her hair ties, plugged her nose, and dunked her head under the water.

"See?" she prompted, with a hint of a matter-of-fact tone. "Not cute."

"I beg to differ."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up at Ciel's comment. It was actually quite a surprise that he found her cute at all, even if it wasn't a very big change. She couldn't help but squeal and hug him tightly.

"E-Eliza-" Ciel's protest was cut off by a violent coughing fit.

The earl's fiancee immediately released him, her eyes widening in shock and panic. "Ciel!"

He hardly heard her yell. His head fell forward, both his eyes opened - fortunately his hair was long enough to cover the contract seal from Elizabeth's view - in the fear that took hold of him. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it _hurt_. Each of his coughs got more and more violent, and the pain he felt with each one grew more and more intense. A drop of blood hit the bathwater. Was that his blood? Nothing was very clear at that moment. He put both hands over his mouth, as it felt like he was about to vomit, but the only liquid that spilled through his fingers was blood. He didn't see it, no, but he could taste the metallic tang on his tongue and in the back of his throat.

Everything began spinning, and everything he saw in front of him was beginning to slowly dim. And it _hurt_.

"CIEL!"

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**Author's Note: Ahahaha...that got a little bit dark, didn't it? Just a bit. XD Ah~ but it was certainly fun. I hope you guys like it.**

**Please review, follow, and/or favorite~ It makes me so, so, so, _so_ happy! And I con't know _exactly_ what you think if you don't leave a review to tell me... So yeah~ :D *blows a kiss* Love ya guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: So, finally, here's the third chapter. I had a bit of a writer's block, and then I wrote a crap ton of poetry. And I apologize for writing being my main vent, because that just means things will probably only get worse from here. On the brighter side of that, though, it'll still be cute~**

**Oh, also, I had no idea what the dinner would be, so I just settled on what my mummy makes for dinner every Christmas, minus the stuffing and the cranberry sauce because ew.**

**A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited this~ And I was afraid no one would like it! XD**

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Elizabeth sat on Ciel's bed, holding his hand in hers. Though he was unconscious, he didn't look placid or tranquil, as someone asleep or unconscious typically did. There was still an upset look on his face—an expression that bordered on being melancholy. What was with that? Why did he have such an expression.

She leaned down and kissed Ciel's forehead.

"You look almost as if you're having a bad dream," she whispered. "A very bad one at that... I wish I could get inside your mind, Ciel. I want to know exactly how you feel. What inside your head could be hurting you like this? Are you thinking of your parents? Or maybe of losing more people you love...?"

Of course, she received no response. Although now, she wanted terribly to be able to ask Ciel about what was going on inside his head. Whatever pain he had, she wanted to share it. He was her reason to live, after all, and she hated knowing that there were things he was silently suffering through. How much _did_ he suffer through alone, without confiding in anyone at all? He was only thirteen years old—much too young for this kind of pain and stress. And if he must go through it, he was much too young to be even _trying_ to face it by himself. Of course, it couldn't be too terrible, as if it was comparable to the dark pits of Hell, although it must have been bad. This caused a large wave of guilt to crash over the Lady. Had she yet to prove herself to be worthy of his trust, enough to be a sole confidante of his when he was unable to talk to anyone else about his problems?

"Lady Elizabeth, I've finished preparing dinner."

Elizabeth looked over her shoulder to see Sebastian standing in the doorway of the room. She really didn't want to reject the food Sebastian must have worked hard to prepare, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't hungry, but she wasn't exactly in the mood for eating. Still, she accepted the food.

"I'd like to eat in here if that's all right," she replied quietly.

The butler nodded and left the young Lady alone with her fiance. She sighed and looked over at him. His ring was on his thumb, just as it usually was, and it nearly made her tear up. That mysterious ring—she had broken it, and still, he wore it everyday, because it had been somehow repaired. Always had she found it a lovely, brilliant, captivating color that filled her with a bubbly, happy feeling, at the same time mirroring how she viewed his eyes, but now was different. Now the sapphire-blue gem looked like a bottomless abyss of endless sorrow and ceaseless torment like the pits of Hell she had thought Ciel couldn't have felt he was in, and yet, it still mirrored how she viewed his eyes. Times before then, she had occasionally felt that she hated herself, though it was only ever mild, but the sense of self-hatred that was bubbling up within her now was horrid and overwhelming. How had she so easily overlooked something like that, when it was so obviously right there, in plain sight? Ciel hid it the best he knew how to, which was amazingly well, be he was her _fiance_, so what kind of future wife was she if she couldn't see what was hidden to keep her from worrying? He was in Hell, and what appeared to be the darkest depths of it, and Elizabeth had done _nothing_ about it.

Elizabeth laid down on the bed, flat on her stomach, with her head on Ciel's chest and one of her fingers curled around the thumb that the ring was on.

"Ciel, Ciel..." she murmured. "You should have hit me much harder than you wanted to when I broke your ring...you should have hit me when I was making your mansion so cute...you should have hit me so many times, because I would have deserved it... With everything I never could see, I don't deserve to be your fiancee. I don't even deserve your love, or to even know someone as amazing as you."

"Pardon me, Lady Elizabeth, I don't recall you ever being so pessimistic." She hadn't heard Sebastian return, and his voice frightened her a little.

She sat up and looked at the butler, who had a tray of food and tea. Instead of remaining where she was, like she was usually used to doing, she stood up and took the tray from Sebastian. "I've been so ignorant of his feelings. It's like I'm not even sure who he is anymore..."

"Whatever do you mean by that? He certainly does have his occasional depressive moods, however that's perfectly normal for humans."

"Yes, but..." Elizabeth paused, poking at her mashed potatoes and causing the gravy to spill out all over the plate as she thought about what she was going to say. "But I know now that you're lying about that. He isn't okay..."

"I don't know where you drew that conclusion from, but the Young Master is—"

Her throat choked with another sudden burst of emotion,—whether it was anger, hate, or sadness, she really couldn't tell—her next words were nothing above a whisper, but yet dripping with barely-detectable venom. "Shut up, Sebastian."

"Pardon?"

"I told you shut up!" This time, Elizabeth's voice was considerably louder. She stabbed the butter knife resting beside the fancy plate into the small pile of sliced ham as she felt a fiery anger boil inside her. She most certainly _had_ been taught that a Lady wasn't meant to allow anger to control her tone or thoughts, mind you, but there's only so much tea you can pour into a teacup before it overflows. Trying to convince her that her fiance was fine when he wasn't was attempting to pour much, _much_ too much tea into the teacup. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up to make eye contact with Sebastian. "I know you're lying to me! Ciel _isn't_ happy, not ever, and he definitely _isn't_ going to be okay! I don't care if he ordered you to lie about it—if you won't give me the truth, don't try to feed me lies, either! Now as his wife, I decide that _I'm_ in charge now since he passed out, so now I'm ordering you to _get out of my sight_!"

Sebastian didn't object. He was the butler, making him lower on the authority chain, but Elizabeth had honestly half-expected him to argue against her. She was thankful he was so willing to bend to her command, though, since she didn't feel like having to assert herself further.

She let out a sigh and set the tray on the floor near the foot of Ciel's bed. She wasn't hungry in the least anymore. She let herself fall sideways onto the bed and rested her head back on Ciel's chest. His heartbeat was slow and steady, and she found it comforting to listen to. She allowed her eyes to fall closed and just focus on the soothing thumping. Sleep wouldn't come, not did she want it too—it would surely be riddled with nightmares of what Ciel may be driven to do and may have already done to himself. She was content now, though, and her mind was clear and it was amazing.

About an hour—or so that was the estimate Elizabeth made, but she wasn't entirely sure—later, Ciel groaned, causing her to sit up. The young earl rubbed his eyes groggily as he slowly brought himself up into a more upright position, muttering something incoherently under his breath.

A smile spread across the young Lady's face—Ciel had finally regained consciousness! She let out a delighted squeal and threw her arms around her fiance. "You're awake! Oh, Ciel, I was so worried!"

"Not so loud," he mumbled. "I'm beginning to get a headache."

She released him and picked up the tea she had been served for dinner and held it out to Ciel. "Here, drink it. I know it's a little cold, since it's from dinner, b—"

Ciel let out a pained gasp and clutched his stomach. "That word is sickening right now..."

"Oh, sorry, I'll try to be more careful with my words. Now drink up! It's not warm at all, but there's nothing else up here right now, so I hope it'll do."

The earl shrugged slightly, took the teacup, and brought it to his lips to drink it. It was gone within seconds. "It wasn't as good as what you made earlier, but oh well."

After those words, there was silence.

Then more silence.

And so Elizabeth decided to take a shot at a question that began nagging in her mind.

"Ciel... Ciel, you don't have to hide your feelings from me... I understand it now, and I wish you would have said something sooner." Her voice was already getting shaky, and she knew right then and there that there was something—maybe not saying the question out loud, but _something_—about to come that was going to make her break down. Yet love meant doing everything, and making sure you do the best possible things you can for the other person, and that's what this was. This was something that would improve their relationship and help Ciel feel better, and she had already spoken. No take-backs allowed. "So...please tell me...how bad is it? What things have you done because of it...?"

Ciel opened his mouth to say something, but closed it right after. Maybe he was going to try to lie to her again and decided not to. Oh, how she hoped that was the case, and that he would decide to keep nothing at all from her. "I don't know why you would care to listen to that. It'll do nothing but make you worry."

"I _already_ am worrying, Ciel! I'm never going to stop worrying about you, whether you have problems or not! I can't help you if you keep everything locked up!" She rubbed her eyes, as they were about to begin overflowing. "What does 'fiancee' mean to you, Ciel? What does it mean?!"

Rubbing his temples slowly, the young earl let out a soft sigh. "You want me to share my burdens with you?"

"Yes, of course...!"

"All right, fine." He took a deep breath. "Now, where to begin..."

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**Author's Note: I do hope that wasn't too disappointing. Which I guess means I hope it's getting a crap ton better, and if not, I hope it's at least worth waiting nearly a month for.**

**OH BUT ALSO GUYS PLEASE HELP ME REAL QUICK OKAY...**

**I've got this idea that, hey, maybe the grim reapers are the people who committed suicide in life, because from the series, it's all people who die from things like murder, illness, and accidents who the reapers come after. So~ I've been considering writing nice little five-or-so-chapter stories focusing on each of the reapers and what exactly happened to them. *shrugs* I dunno, what do you guys think?  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Eheheheh...this should have been up a couple days ago, but...my other idea was just way too tempting~ But guys, look, I'm sorry. The next chapter is here now, and I've arranged a multi-chapter torture session of self-loathing and pain for Ronnie, so everything is okay. Please forgive me. But I have a bit of a headache, so sorry if my writing suffers for it. That's what I get for whine-yelling "SENPAI! SENPAI, PLEASE!" to girlfriend's voicemail system for fifteen minutes before realizing that she wasn't even home to hear me.**

**Oh, and I decided this will start going off in a different direction than the course of neither the manga nor anime would allow, so please deal with it. ****SPOILER: YOU MIGHT HATE ME FOR MY CHOICE******

**Also, a huge thank you goes out to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed this story since last chapter! *blows kisses to you all* I love each and every one of you.**

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Emerald eyes were fixed on Ciel as Elizabeth waited for him to spill what she had asked him to.

"It began on the night of my tenth birthday, as I don't doubt you've already guessed," he started, lacing his fingers together as he took a deep breath. "When the original Phantomhive estate burned, my parents burned alive inside the manor, which passed the position of Phantomhive family head onto me. To be more honest with you about this than I can recall being with anyone else, that night was the most horrific scene I could have ever imagined at that point in my life. Still, though, I don't believe that's what scarred me like this. I place all the blame on that month..." His hands tensed up as he drew in another deep breath. It was unlike him to be so willing to comply when it came to showing his scars and what extent of pain he was really in, but the fact that it was for Elizabeth robbed him of his unwillingness to reveal everything. He was, however, unable to tell if he truly minded it as much as he believed he should.

Elizabeth placed her hands gently on Ciel's, hoping it would deal some portion of comfort. It did—her soft, warm touch made the earl feel slightly more at ease. It wasn't too much, but it was still something, and was worth a lot.

"Th-that month?" the young Lady echoed quietly.

Another deep breath, but the exhalation was slightly shaky. "Kidnap and torture. Horrible, awful, unimaginable torture. I don't think I could have ever have suffered worse humiliation than that. I was branded, beaten, bruised, and then was meant to be sacrificed. What a waste of money—purchasing something of good and pure quality, only to break it and attempt to destroy it altogether, but I suppose the satisfaction they'll have for now is to know the chances of their failed sacrifice continuing life properly is incredibly slim."

Somehow, Ciel managed to keep perfectly still. It was a mystery to Elizabeth how he could talk about this without breaking down, as she was trembling and trying—at any rate, though, she was about to fail—to keep from crying just _listening_ to it.

"C-Ciel..." she murmured quietly, her voice hardly anything above a whisper. "I-I'm so selfish..."

"What are you talking about?"

"I didn't want anything more than to see you smile again, and that's almost all I cared about. I didn't have any idea what you've been going through all this time, and I should have stopped caring so much about _making_ you smile and at least _asked_ you why you didn't..." Elizabeth wiped at the tears that were freely rolling down her cheeks, only to have them immediately replaced by more. What kind of fiancee was she being all that time, acting almost as if a normal teenage boy never, _ever_ smiled? She threw her arms around him and sobbed Ciel's chest. "Wh-why would y-you lock something l-like that u-up, anyway?"

"It would be irritating if others bothered with trying to fix something beyond repair, especially if it would inconvenience me." Ciel hesitated for a good minute or two before continuing. "And...if there ran a risk of you discovering my issues, then I'd rather remain suffering silently. I saw it better to keep you from worrying, as you hadn't already been."

_Selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish._ Elizabeth repeated that word over and over in her head. She was _not_ fit to be the wife of someone so amazing. She was _not_ fit to call herself a family member of his. She was _not_ fit to be so close to him. She was _not_ fit to even know him. All that time, she was being so selfish and so ignorant, and she was sure she wasn't going to ever fully forgive herself for it. She didn't want him to forgive her, either—she felt as if she could never deserve something like that after what she did.

After several minutes,—or perhaps a whole hour; her sense of time was blurring and she could hardly even tell how quick or slow Ciel's heartbeat was—she looked up at Ciel. "Would you...would you mind if I asked one more question...?"

"What would that question be?"

"I want to know what..."—Elizabeth paused for a few moments, trying to find her words and figure out how exactly to say them—"...what you did to cope with everything... How far did those things push you...?"

The earl lifted his gaze to the ceiling, blankly staring upwards, contemplating if he should be fully honest with her or not. "For a time, I resorted to self-harm, but that's something I've given up for the most part. I tend to keep my mind elsewhere, but I suppose that's because I know I'll get my revenge on everyone who wronged me those three years ago."

"How can you be so sure of that...?"

"I've made...a contract." This was it. No more lying to Elizabeth. No more keeping _the_ secret from her. With her full and undying devotion to him since they were young, maybe she deserved to know. He looked back at his fiancee with his right eye closed, tilted his head so his bangs fell completely away from his face, and slowly opened his eye._  
_

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she covered her mouth, both actions done in pure, utter shock and surprise. "C...C-Ciel..."

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**Author's Note: PLOT TWIST! (And wow this is pathetically short.) How many of you hate me so far?**

**And I'll edit this later—I just want to get this up ASAP for you lovely readers.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I meant to get this up the night before last, but eeeehhhh... I started the second chapter of my other thingy and then I watched a movie with my daddy afterwords. I started this yesterday, though, before I got a migraine that made me stop, but I forgot to save most of what I'd typed. -.-**

**Eh, anyway, chapter five is here, and Lizzy will TCOB. Or at least try to.**

**Also~ A huge thanks goes out to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed~ I love you guys~**

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"That's...th-the mark of...a demon..."

The young Lady was too shocked to have anything else to say, but even if there was more she wanted to say, she couldn't—she melted into a mess of whimpers and tears, her body shaking and jolting with each spasm that her sobbing caused.

Ciel sighed and gently petted his fiancee's hair. "Yes, it most certainly is. Sebastian acts as my loyal servant until I track down and exact revenge on everyone who humiliated me, and once that's been done, he will take my soul in return."

The grip Elizabeth had on Ciel's clothes tightened as she balled her hands into fists. She sniffled and looked up at Ciel, hoping she would be able to manage to speak. "C-Ciel, I need y-you to do something for me..."

"What is it?"

"I...I want to have Sebastian for an hour... That's an order you can make, isn't it?"

"I can make any order I choose, but why the devil would you want to own Sebastian?"

Elizabeth hesitated before she responded. How was she supposed to say something like "I'm going to try to give him what he deserves" without, well, saying that? She had to keep her docile, innocent image. If she even _implied_ what her intentions were, she would shatter that image. Still, what kind of _friend_ would even lie after this, let alone a fiancee? "Your soul is supposed to be _mine_, Ciel, just like my soul is yours. No one—not a demon, an angel, or even God or Satan—is allowed to change that without my permission, and I will never give that privilege to anyone."

She received no response. She decided that it would be best to leave matters alone, at least for the time being, so she remained quiet as well. However, the slightly uncomfortable silence was soon broken by a loud shout from Ciel. "SEBASTIAN!"

Within seconds, the bedroom door opened and the butler was standing in the doorway. "You called, my Lord?"

"Sebastian, I have an important order for you—for the next hour, you will serve Elizabeth precisely as you serve me. You will not talk back, you will not question orders, and you will not even _attempt_ to refuse orders. Am I making myself clear?"

The butler hardly seemed pleased and looked as if he wanted to make some kind of effort to reject, but he made no such move. He placed a gloved hand over the left side of his chest—not "over his heart," because neither Ciel nor Elizabeth were quite sure if he even possessed such—and bowed. "Of course, my Lord."

Without a moment's hesitation, Elizabeth stood up, kissed Ciel's cheek, and exited the room. "Sebastian, I need you to fetch me a knife or two from the kitchen and bring them to the washroom closest to here. And please note that when I say 'knife,' I don't mean a butter knife."

No doubt could be had that Elizabeth was indeed a proper lady. She was polite, kind, patient, maintained perfect posture, had a perfect doll-like appearance. But there were buttons no one should even _consider_ pushing, and one of those buttons had been slammed down repeatedly by the knowledge that there was a demon who believed he could have the soul of the one she was meant to marry. There was a lot a sweet personality, dainty appearance, and elegant attire could mask, and with Elizabeth, it was now concealing a merciless persecutor.

It didn't take long for Sebastian to return with the items that were requested, and as soon as he did, Elizabeth snatched them away and kicked the door closed. It hardly mattered that he was a demon, did it? In a human body like that,—

"Surely you can still feel pain, can't you?" Elizabeth questioned, tightening her grip on the handles of the knives.

Though the answer was tentative, the young Lady fortunately didn't have to doubt the truthfulness at all, and on top of that, his answer was satisfying: "While I could never be killed by those knives, I most certainly am able to feel pain."

"That should make this more satisfying. I order you to refrain from dodging." Her soft features hardened into a scowl as she forced him against the wall with a loud thud and plunged both knives into his shoulders, causing blood to darken Sebastian's already-black attire.

He, of course, did nothing to stop Elizabeth's actions, and remained still as she continued to inflict wound after wound. There were gashes all over him—on his arms, chest, and abdomen. Blood formed a large pool on the floor, made a few small spatters on the walls, covered the knives, it stained the butler's clothes, dripped down the Lady's arms.

"Ciel is _mine_," she hissed, making another stab between each of her words. "You can't have him." At the last word, she plunged one of the knives into Sebastian's throat and the other into his head.

She pulled the towel off the bar it was folded over and hanging on, cleaned her hands off with it, tossed it on a clean part of the floor, and wiped the bottoms of her shoes off on it. "I have one more order—clean this up quickly and don't allow anyone to _ever_ find out about it."

Elizabeth left the room, closing it on her way out. What had she just done? She wasn't a sadistic or violent person, and anger wasn't an emotion that sat well with her. Somehow, she had just...snapped. The fact that Sebastian was a demon hardly mattered to her in this respect—she still felt _awful_ about what she had done. It wasn't really in self-defense, and the whole Ciel's-soul-was-going-to-be-his thing had been a decision that Ciel had made. What did that make her, then? In one sense or another, perhaps just as bad or even worse than the demon himself?

When she entered Ciel's bedroom, her usually-bright emerald eyes were dull and seemed almost lifeless. She had even dropped the perfect posture she always made sure to have, almost as if she had somehow forgotten or completely stopped caring about how important she had been taught it was—because she most certainly _had_ stopped caring.

"E-Elizabeth?" Ciel murmured, sounding both confused and concerned.

The young Lady didn't reply. She just walked over to Ciel's bed, collapsing once she got there.

"Lizzy!"

Still, he received no response.

"Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford!" He was nearly shouting now out of panic—this was _not_ how Elizabeth behaved. He pushed her over onto her back and stood over her, one of his hands next to either side of her head. "A husband has more authority than his wife, so you will look at me and you will tell me what's wrong with you!"

For the umpteenth time that day, Elizabeth began to tear up. "Oh...oh, Ciel, I'm utterly _horrid_."

Ciel sat back down on the bed, pulled Elizabeth into a sitting position, and hugged her comfortingly. "Everything's all right. I obviously can't help you the way I should if I don't know what happened."

"I..." She trailed off after that, not knowing how to say what she had just done. So she just sat there against Ciel, bawling her eyes out.

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**Author's Note: Well DANG. That took the most unexpected f-ing turn ever, didn't it? And it'll all be wrapped up next chapter! But while I'll be done with this, I'll still be writing more Ciel/Elizabeth, because it's my forever-OTP for _Kuroshitsuji_. (But I do run out of ideas, so I'm always open for other people to give me plot ideas.)**

**I also think I wanna write a lemon...yes...OTP lemons are perf.**

**I'm also considering trying my hand at a _Soul Eater_ fanfic in case anyone is interested in that.**


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